Vastly higher clean energy targets are essential to empower the international community to make the leap to a sustainable future, according to Richard Heinberg, coauthor of “Our Renewable Future: Laying the Path for One Hundred Percent Clean Energy.” In this interview, he delves into the practical challenges involved in the global transition to renewable power sources.

In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced the beginning of an initiative that he would later dub the “project of the century.” The Belt and Road Initiative is a massive infrastructure-integration project undertaken by the Chinese government to improve the connectivity between Asia, Europe and Africa. It effectively covers more than half of the world’s population and a third of the world’s GDP.

Alaska is strongly affected by climate change volatility – and extensively engaged in fossil fuel extraction. And now it’s considering becoming one of the first states in the nation to have a green bank.

The versatile online State Energy Analysis Tool produces visuals and data analyses on energy and climate at the state level as well as the national level in the United States. This information allows states to explore their potential for renewable energy and carbon markets. It provides powerful data visualization for users to access information on clean energy, carbon emissions, and industry regulations.

With so much happening at a state level in solar power and energy efficiency, it is difficult to keep up with the variety of approaches and perspectives. So the Yale Center for Business and the Environment is here to help by launching “States of Clean Energy Innovation,” an online news hub with customized clean energy data and stories about the United States and Puerto Rico. Each state is different. Each state has thoughtful leaders working on our transition to clean energy. And each state deserves its own dashboard.

Although New Hampshire isn’t in the forefront of clean energy in New England, the solar power and energy efficiency industries are active there, according to Michael Behrmann, director of New Hampshire Clean Tech Council. In this interview, he said that some solar developers are working around bottlenecks at the state level by bypassing bureaucratic intervention. There is more state support for energy efficiency than for solar power.